Christmas, B.C. - A Devotional by Greg Laurie

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

The Christmas story is far more profound than many of us may realize. Long Before there was a planet earth, long before a man named Adam and a woman named Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in a garden named Eden ,long before Bethlehem was founded....a decision was made in eternity that Jesus Christ would come to this earth as a man and walk among us, die on the cross, and rise again on the third day.

The stunning truth is , God designed the Christmas story to make provision for our sins and failures even before there was a you and me!

Revelation 13:8 makes this clear : "The Lamb (was) slain from the foundation of the world."And C.S. Lewis succinctly explained why this was necessary when he wrote, "The Son of God became a man that men might become sons of God." Adam and Eve's sin in the garden didn't surprise God; even before He created the world He knew He would have to make provision for us.

Allow me to illustrate this with the procedure I once used with my son Jonathan whenever he sat down with a bowl of cereal. I knew he was going to make a mess. I'm a father and I'd seeen this before. So I made provision for his mess by placing a bib around his neck or putting a plastic tarp beneath his high chair ( or perhaps even getting a nearby garden hose cranked up and ready to go-you get the idea). As a parent , I made provision for the mess I knew my son was going to make.

In the same way , God made provision for the mess that man was going to make. He knew before Adam sinned that he would do so and He knew it would be necessary for Jesus to come to this earth.

Think of it! Long before Bethlehem existed , everything was decided. Before Ruth gleaned wheat in the fields of Boaz. Before David grew up and lived as a young boy and later became the king of Israel and ancester of Jesus. Some 650 years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah said of Bethlehem, "But you , Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah , yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2)-literally, "from the vanishing point."

When Jesus finally came , it had been more than 400 years since Israel last heard from a prophet, 400 years since the last miracle, 400 years since the appearance of an angel. The people were waiting. They were spiritually hungry. They were reaching out.

And when the time was just right, "God sent forth His Son born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons , God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts , crying out , 'Abba , Father!' " (Galations 4:4-6)

We think of Christmas as the celebration of a great arrival, and so it is. But it's also the celebration of a tremendous DEPARTURE. Never forget that Jesus came because a decision had been made that He should leave Heaven.

Did you know we have a record of His good-bye message? Hebrews 10:5-7 says, "When He came into the world, (Jesus) said: 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire , but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.' Then I said, 'Behold, I have come-in the volume of the book is written of Me-to do Your will, O God.'" Those were the words of Jesus to His Father. The animal sacrifices pointed to what Jesus would ultimately accomplish as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. God must become a man; there must be a final and complete sacrifice.

This should give you great comfort. God has always known that you could never measure up to His perfection. He never expected you to! Instead , He provided you with His spotless, pure Son, who came to earth and died in our place-and you need to do nothing else but accept His gift of salvation.

Are you struggling with your sin?Is there a part of your past that keeps coming back to haunt you? Do you feel as though the Christian life is too difficult?

If so, then may I remind you that God never intended for you to live up to His standards on your own? He made provison for you-and your messes-through His Son. And once you accept that provision , your life is hidden in Christ. As Paul wrote in Galations 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ , it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."

If by faith you have placed your trust in Christ , that truth should give you tremendous strength and courage. It does me! The Lord does not want us to rely on our strength, but on HIS strength. He knows that we are but dust (see Psalms 103:14).

It's exactly for that reason that when Jesus came to earth the first time, He came as a servant , not a king. He had to clean us up and take care of our messes before we would be fit to be seated at the marriage supper of the spotless Lamb.

"No man ever loved like Jesus . He taught the blind to see and the dumb to speak. He died on the cross to save us. He bore our sins. And now God says, 'Because He did , I can forgive you.'"-Billy Graham

This post was reprinted from Greg Laurie's book : "Everyday with Jesus".